WALNUT CREEK — A cracked pipeline in Walnut Creek has leaked thousands of gallons of gasoline into a local water channel, but no wildlife appears to have been threatened.
In an early analysis, energy company Kinder Morgan estimated that 750 to 1,000 barrels, or 31,400 to 42,500 gallons of gasoline, discharged from the crack before its workers shut down the pipeline that runs from Concord to San Jose. State environmental officials say much of the gasoline is underground beneath soil and rocks.
The company said it first noticed a pressure drop on Nov. 20 near South Broadway in Walnut Creek, prompting officials to shut down certain segments of the pipeline.
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Then, on Dec. 2, a pipeline worker notified local flood control authorities after seeing and smelling traces of gasoline in the water in a drainage canal near the Iron Horse Trail footbridge south of Ygnacio Valley Road. The canal is next to the San Ramon Bypass, a concrete structure that diverts floodwater downstream.
“We immediately shut down the pipeline and isolated the area,” Melissa Ruiz, a spokeswoman for Kinder Morgan, said in an interview.
Officials believe that tree roots put pressure on the pipeline, causing it to crack. There’s no official timeline for when the spill will be fully cleaned up, but Ruiz said the repaired pipeline segment was scheduled to be placed back into service on Wednesday after a sign-off by the state fire marshal.
“If more of the fuel reached the canal, we would have a bigger problem with wildlife potentially being impacted,” said Eric Laughlin, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, in an interview. “Since a lot of it is still underground, it’s not as catastrophic as it would be if it were in open water.”
The canal safeguards against local flooding and does not carry water used by the public. Gasoline in the pipeline is routed to petroleum terminals, eventually winding up at retail gas stations.
Bob Simmons, head of the Walnut Creek Watershed Council, said in an interview he spoke to Kinder Morgan officials on Tuesday. The council, a group of volunteers, was created about a decade ago to protect fish and wildlife in the watershed, he said.
“It’s a relatively recent leak and we don’t know the extent of it yet,” Simmons said. “They are still doing what they call the response action. In other words, probably later this week or early next week they hope to start the remediation part of it.”
Kinder Morgan is one of the largest energy companies in the country, managing around 83,000 miles of gas pipeline. Its headquarters are in Houston.
This isn’t the company’s first oil-related accident in Walnut Creek. In 2004, a high-pressure gasoline line exploded during construction for a water main along South Broadway, killing five people and injuring others.
In 2007, Kinder Morgan pleaded no contest to six felonies related to the accident and agreed to pay $15 million.
